September 11

Posted on Sep 11, 2018

Two great sins are marked out in Scripture by other sinners being threatened with having “their portion with hypocrites” (Mt 24:51), and that God “will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers” (Lk 12:46). Who can say which is greater? Certainly the Lord reserved His most scathing words for hypocrites. As He said, “Woe to you…hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in” (Mt 23:13). Through hypocrisy, both leader and follower perish. The curse of hypocrisy is this: as long as a person pretends to be what he is not, he can never become what God desires for him. Honesty about my true condition is the first step in a living relationship with God. But the second is equally important: trust in God. If hypocrisy pretends one is not a prisoner, unbelief locks up one’s own soul to prohibit the only way of escape. God’s solution? “Repent, and believe the gospel” (Mk 1:15).— J.B.N.